Christmas Sugar Cookies Recipe (2024)

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By Karina 4 Comments Filed Under: Christmas

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Quick and easyChristmas Sugar Cookiesare so good either plain or decorated with royal icing!

These Christmas Sugar Cookies are soft and buttery, keep their shape while baking AND everyone loves them. The best part? No big mixer needed!

Christmas Sugar Cookies Recipe (1)

If you’re looking for a great sugar cookie recipe, whether you’re decorating or not, then this is the recipe for you!

What are sugar cookies made out of?

Simple ingredients you’ll find in your kitchen! You’ll be relieved to know there are no weird ingredients in this recipe. You’re just 5 ingredients away from the best sugar cookies of your life!

  • Butter ✓
  • Sugar ✓
  • Pure vanilla extract ✓
  • Egg ✓
  • Flour ✓

Christmas Sugar Cookies Recipe (2)

How do you get sugar cookies to keep their shape?

What sets this recipe apart from the rest is using only a little baking powder and no baking soda. During testing, we found too much of those two rising ingredients made for puffy sugar cookies that lost their shape while baking from puffing up too much.

Also, we chill the dough before rolling so that after you’ve cut them out, they’re easier to lift off of your bench and arrange onto your baking sheet, maintaining their shape while baking.

Christmas Sugar Cookies Recipe (3)

Perfect shaped cookies every single time!

Christmas Sugar Cookies Recipe (4)

Once they’re baked, you can decorate them with royal icing, a spread of Nutella, a sprinkle of cinnamon sugar, or whatever you like!

Now, because I don’t know the first thing about decorating, my beautiful friend and professional baker Di decorated these cookies with royal icing, edible cachous or pearls and glitter.

How do you make Christmas sugar cookies from scratch? Find out below!

Christmas Sugar Cookies Recipe (5)

Quick and easyChristmas Sugar Cookiesare so good either plain or decorated with Royal Icing! These Sugar Cookies are soft and buttery, keep their shape while baking AND everyone loves them. The best part? No big mixer needed!

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Prep: 10 minutes mins

Cook: 7 minutes mins

Total: 17 minutes mins

Serves: 24 - 36 cookies

Ingredients

Sugar Cookies

  • 1 cup unsalted butter
  • 1 cup granulated white sugar
  • 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
  • 1 egg
  • 3 cups all purpose flour (or plain flour)
  • 3/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

Royal Icing:

  • 1/4 cup water
  • 1 tablespoon prepared royal icing mix, or more. The consistency should be thick and creamy)

Instructions

Cookies:

  • Preheat oven to 350°F | 175°C. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, set aside.

  • In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar together with a thick wooden spoon or electric beaters, and beat until smooth (for about 3 minutes).Beat in the vanilla and the egg.

  • Add in 2 cups of flour, baking powder and salt. Mix until well combined. Then add the rest of the flour until the mixture becomes a stiff cookie dough. Turn dough out onto a clean surface. Lightly wet your hands and knead the dough until it forms a soft ball.Wrap dough with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

  • Divide dough in half, then roll out about 1/4-inch thick onto a lightly floured surface. Cut using any cookie cutter shape you like, and transfer immediately onto baking sheet.

  • Bake for 6-8 minutes or until just set. For crispier golden edged cookies, bake for up to 9 minutes. Allow to cool on the cookie sheet (they should be soft) for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely.

Royal Icing:

  • Mix the water with the royal icing mix in a small bowl. Pour into a small piping bag with around icing tip #5, outline and flood the cookies with silver or grey. Allow to set. Then, using round icing tip #1, pipe any other decorations you like over the top, or add edible pearls, edible cachous, edible balls, sprinkles, edible glitter, or whatever you like!

    Icing will completely set in the refrigerator for 20 minutes, or about 2 hours at room temperature.

Notes

We used 2 lots of royal icing mix. One was grey and one was white.

Decorated or plain cookies will stay fresh covered at room temperature or in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.

More Christmas Treats!

Easy Chocolate Coconut Balls (Truffles)

Churro Nutella Christmas Tree

Best Fudgy Chocolate Crinkle Cookies

« Bloomin’ Onion Garlic Bread (Pull Apart Bread)

Garlic Butter Prosciutto Wrapped Asparagus »

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Jane says

    Christmas Sugar Cookies Recipe (15)
    I made this today for my class ( valentine cookie decoration activity) and it was delicious! My son had a first try and he loved it! Thank you for sharing your recipe!

    Reply

  2. TARA DIXON says

    I used it without absolutely fine.
    If your using grams the measurements are.
    225 butter
    375 flour
    3/4 tsp salt
    2 tsp vanilla
    200 sugar
    Was brilliant

    Reply

  3. Kris says

    I thought the exact same thing!

    Reply

  4. Anne says

    Christmas Sugar Cookies Recipe (16)
    Hello Karina, I super like this recipe of yours. I think I will not be using this recipe only at Christmas. I will be trying this for different shapes and decorations as well. Not only is it easy to bake but delicious. Thank you for sharing this recipe.

    Reply

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Christmas Sugar Cookies Recipe (2024)

FAQs

How far in advance can you make cookies for Christmas? ›

You'll find that most of your favorite Christmas cookie recipes can be made anywhere from a month to six months before the 25th of December. (Consult this handy how-to guide to the matter.) Generally, most recipes will be best if baked and then frozen.

How do you keep Christmas sugar cookies from spreading? ›

To prevent this make sure the baking sheets are always at least on room temperature. Ideally you want to cut your cookies and then chill them with the baking sheet. that way the tray is still cool when it goes in the oven and the cookies have no time to spread before they are baked through.

What is a Nazareth sugar cookie? ›

The sugar cookie is believed to have originated in the mid-1700s in Nazareth, Pennsylvania. German Protestant settlers created a round, crumbly and buttery cookie that came to be known as the Nazareth cookie. Jumbles are the earliest form of sugar cookies.

What is the #1 cookie in the United States? ›

The chocolate chip cookie is far and away America's favorite cookie This should come as no surprise to anyone who enjoys the tasty treat. More than 53% of American adults prefer the cookies over the next most popular kind, peanut butter.

What is the least popular Christmas cookie? ›

On the naughty list of cookies, Americans gave the lowest win records to anise cookies, which only won 29% of its matchups.

Can you leave Christmas cookies out overnight? ›

Cookies left out overnight are at risk of microbial contamination, especially if they contain perishable ingredients like eggs or dairy. Harmful bacteria, such as Salmonella, can multiply rapidly in these conditions, potentially causing foodborne illness if consumed.

How do you keep homemade cookies fresh till Christmas? ›

The USDA website says that generally, cookies can be stored at room temperature for two to three weeks or refrigerated for two months. If you find yourself with more cookies than you can eat in that time frame, consider putting the baked cookies in a sealed container in the freezer.

Is it better to freeze or refrigerate Christmas cookies? ›

While cookies can last in the fridge for two weeks, eating them sooner is better. (We recommend storing a few in the refrigerator for eating in a few days and freezing the rest if eating more than four days after baking.)

Why do my sugar cookies turn into blobs? ›

If the oven's hot enough, the fat melts before the cookies set. And since their flour/liquid matrix hasn't yet had a chance to harden, the cookies spread – becoming those dreaded cookie blobs.

What is a Navy Seal sugar cookie? ›

McRaven describes the experience of Navy SEAL trainees who are subject — often randomly — to a punishment where they are directed to get wet and sandy on the beaches. By the time they are finished the trainees, covered in sand, look like “sugar cookies.”

Why are they called cowboy cookies? ›

Some claim cowboy cookies hail from Texas, a state many cowboys call home. Others say the treats were named for their ability to withstand long days in saddlebag. Whatever its origin, the combination of oats, chocolate, pecans, and coconut is undeniably delicious.

What is Snoop Dogg cookies? ›

Snoop Dogg's peanut butter chocolate chip cookie recipe - His original cookie features creamy peanut butter and semisweet chocolate morsels, making it the perfect indulgence this holiday season. #

What is the number one selling cookie? ›

Oreo is the best-selling cookie in the world. It is now sold in over 100 countries. Oreo was first produced in 1912 by the National Biscuit Company, now known as Na-Bis-Co. But did you know Oreos are a copycat product?

What are the most Googled Christmas cookies? ›

Italian Christmas Cookies grow as top cookie

Zoom in: Italian Christmas Cookies were the top cookie in 13 states, more than double the six states from 2022, Google Trends curator Katie Seaton told Axios. Seaton said the Italian cookies dominated the East Coast both this year and last year.

What is Santa's second favorite cookie? ›

2. Holiday Candy Cookie Bites – Number two on the list of Santa's favorite cookies is Holiday Candy Cookie Bites, which is a holiday version of the year-round favorite, Chocolate Chip Cookies. Instead of traditional chocolate chips, these cookies are studded with red and green candies and white baking chips.

What is Santa Claus's favorite cookie? ›

Chocolate Chip cookies

You can never go wrong with these classic, delicious cookies. Santa himself lists these as his favorites, and he prefers them soft and gooey with lots of chocolate chips. If you decide to leave these out for him, make sure there's a glass of cold milk nearby!

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